The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonpartisan organizationdedicated to safeguarding press freedom around the world, has documentedrecent moves by Yugoslav authorities to stamp out the last vestiges ofindependent reporting, while upping the stakes for foreign correspondents,who now face the risk of long-term detention.

April 26: Military Censors at TV Studio B

Serbian authorities have placed a military censor in the studios ofBelgrade's Studio B to monitor their daily 7 p.m. half-hour newscast,assuring that no uncensored information about the army will make it on theair. The move came in response to Deputy Prime Minister Vuk Draskovic'sunscripted remarks which Studio B aired on Sunday, April 25. Draskovic,whose party controls the city-owned Studio B, criticized the Serb state-runtelevision network RTS and President Slobodan Milosevic's disinformationtactics in particular, urging news providers to be more truthful with thepeople. The station's broadcasts, as well as all other media in Yugoslavia,have been subjected to political and military censorship since Serbiaadopted a new information law last October. Draskovic was sacked on April 28in reprisal for his comments.

Montenegro's Independent Antenna M Radio and Weekly Monitor SuspendOperationsMiodrag Perovic, who heads the independent radio station Antenna M and theweekly magazine Monitor in Podgorica has gone into hiding. He decided toclose down both operations rather than submit to military censorship. Anoutspoken critic of Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, Perovic said he istrying to avoid capture and possible torture by the Yugoslav Army. In arecent editorial, Perovic urged the Montenegrin government to stage a defacto coup by seizing control of the federal army bases located in therepublic.

April 25: BBC Crew Detained in MontenegroBBC correspondent Brian Barron, his cameraman Jonny Bonny, and producerSimon Wilson, were detained in Podgorica for five hours. They were filmingin a park in the Montenegrin capital when they were confronted by a Yugoslavfederal soldier who accused them of espionage. They were taken to a militarybarracks for interrogation. Their videotape was confiscated along with thenames of their local contacts. After a stern warning not to photograph inthe area again, they were released in good condition.

April 24: Japanese Diplomat Allowed Contact with Imprisoned German ReporterNoriaki Owada, the Japanese ambassador, who represents Germany's interestsin Yugoslavia, was allowed to visit German reporter Hans-Peter "Pit"Schnitzler in a Belgrade jail. The Japanese ambassador reported thatSchnitzler, the southeast correspondent for Germany's SAT-1 television, wasin good physical condition and did not appear to have been mistreated. Serbarmy officials arrested Schnitzler on April 16 and charged him withespionage. Germany unequivocally denied that the journalist is a spy,calling the allegations "ridiculous."

French and Croatian Journalists Detained for Alleged SpyingEric Vaillant, a cameraman for French TF-1 television, and Antun Masle, acorrespondent for the Croatian weekly Globus, were ordered to remain in jailfor 30 days. Eric Vaillant was arrested on April 20 for filming in the areaaround Rozaje, Montenegro. Antun Masle was arrested on April 21 when hecrossed the border from Albania. A Yugoslav army judge in Montenegro ordereda month-long investigation into charges of espionage against bothjournalists. If they are found guilty, they face a minimum of 10 years inprison. French President Jacques Chirac called their detention"reprehensible."

April 24: Financial Times Balkans Correspondent ExpelledGuy Dinmore, a correspondent for the Financial Times and a stringer forVoice of America, was expelled from Belgrade by Yugoslav authorities.

April 23: Editor of Independent TV Soko Given Yearlong Prison SentenceA Sokobanja district court found Nebojsa Ristic, editor of independent TVSoko in Sokobanja, guilty of disseminating false information under Article218 of the Serbian penal code. The charges stemmed from a poster found inRistic's office that read, "Free Press Made in Serbia!" along with a RadioB92 logo. Lawyers for Ristic appealed the decision on April 26, but theappeal was denied.

April 22: Koha Ditore Resumes Publication in MacedoniaKoha Ditore, Kosovo's largest independent Albanian-language daily, which wasshut down by Yugoslav forces on March 22, has renewed publishing inMacedonia. Editor-in-Chief Baton Haxhiu is overseeing the reconstructednewspaper.

Key reports and information

The report points out that the blind spot of the Serbian media system are informal alliances of ruling political forces and big industrial and commercial businesses which are allowed to infiltrate the media in a non-transparent way and fulfill through them the common interests of the state and the businesses.

This book is an attempt to address obstacles to a democratic development of media systems in the countries of South East Europe by mapping patterns of corrupt relations and practices in media policy development, media ownership and financing, public service broadcasting, and journalism as a profession.

Decade-long efforts to promote media reforms in Serbia have foundered. This report describes the mechanisms of a growing “soft censorship” that denies Serbia’s citizens their right to a free and independent media and offers recommendations that can help dismantle these insidious practices.

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